# 1853–54 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

"none" is preferred when the title alone is adequate; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
Elections in Massachusetts :
General
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022 :
Federal government
U.S. President
1788–89
1792
1796
1800
1804
1808
1812
1816
1820
1824
1828
1832
1836
1840
1844
1848
1852
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1968
1972
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Dem
1984
1988
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1996
2000
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2004
Dem
GOP
2008
Dem
GOP
2012
2016
Dem
GOP
2020
Dem
GOP
2024
Dem
GOP
U.S. Senate
Class 1: 1788
1790
1796 (S)
1796
1798
1800 (S)
1803
1808 (S)
1810 (S)
1811
1813 (S)
1815
1815 (S)
1816 (S)
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1820 (S)
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1839
February 1841 (S)
1845
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1982
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1994
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2010 (S)
2012
2018
2024
Class 2: 1788
1793
1796
1800 (S)
1803 (S)
1805
1810
1811 (S)
1816
1822 (S)
1826 (S)
1828
1835
January 1841 (S)
1841
1845 (S)
1847
1853
1855 (S)
1859
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1873 (S)
1877
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1889
1895
1901
1905 (S)
1907
1913
1918
1924
1930
1936
1942
1944 (S)
1948
1954
1960
1966
1972
1978
1984
1990
1996
2002
2008
2013 (S)
2014
2020
U.S. House
1788/1789
1790/1792
1792/1793
1794/1795
1796/1797
1798/1799
1800/1801
1802/1803
1804
1806
1808
1810/1811
1812/1813
1814/1815
3rd
1816/1817
1818/1819
1820/1821
1822/1823
1824/1825
1826/1827
1828
1830/1832
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1834/1835
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1982
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1986
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1991 (1st)
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2001 (9th)
2002
2004
2006
2007 (5th)
2008
2010
2012
2013 (5th)
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
State government
Governor
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State Senate
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2024
State House
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2020
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2024
Governor's Council
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2024
Ballot measures
1980: Proposition 2½
2002: English Language Education in Public Schools
2006: 2008
Greyhound Protection
Sensible Marijuana Policy
State Income Tax Repeal
2010: No Sales Tax for Alcohol
Sales Tax Relief
Comprehensive Permits and Regional Planning
2012: Right to Repair
Death with Dignity
Medical Marijuana
2014: Automatic Gas Tax Increase Repeal
Expansion of Bottle Deposits
Casino Repeal
Paid Sick Days
2016: Expand Slot Machine Gaming
Charter School Expansion
Farm Animal Confinement
Legalization, Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana
2018: Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination
2020: pending :
Boston
Mayor
1822
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1824
Apr 1825
Dec 1825
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1844–45
Dec 1845
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1853–54
Dec 1854
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City council
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2023 :
Springfield
Mayor
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1957
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2023 :
Worcester
Mayor
1987
1989
1991
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2007
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2011
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2023 :
Massachusetts portal :
vte :
The 1853–54 Massachusetts gubernatorial election consisted of an initial popular held on November 14, 1853, which was followed by a legislative vote that was conducted on January 9, 1854, which elected Whig Party nominee Emory Washburn. The ultimate task of electing the governor had been placed before the Massachusetts General Court because no candidate received the majority of the vote required for a candidate to be elected through the popular election.
Whig Governor John H. Clifford declined to run for a second term in office. Emory Washburn won the race to succeed him. Because no candidate received a majority of the vote, the legislature selected Washburn as the winner.
This was the last time that the legislature elected the governor of Massachusetts, as the popular majority requirement was removed from the Constitution of Massachusetts in 1855. This was also the last election in which the Free Soil Party was a major factor; it was effectively supplanted by the Republican Party in 1854.

## Background
### 1853 constitutional convention

The election was dominated by the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853, which proposed a new constitution for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The primary debate at the convention, held from May 4 to August 2, was over the system of representational apportionment used in the House of Representatives.
The debates notably saw the Whigs adopt a strategy of constitutional reform, a reversal from their historical record of conservative retrenchment. The Whig positions, calculated to enhance their urban majority, included equal representation, plurality elections, popular election of executive officers, elimination of the general ticket system in favor of ward representation for municipal elections, and abolition of the poll tax. The Democratic-Free Soil majority stood in support of the disproportionate representation of their agrarian base. Free Soiler Francis W. Bird remarked, "I thought I came here as one of the progressives in company with a majority of this Convention, but I find that we have all turned to the 'right-about-face.' The conservatives are on the engine, and the radicals are on the brake."

## General election
### Candidates

* Henry W. Bishop, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas (Democratic)
* Bradford L. Wales (National Democratic)
* Emory Washburn, attorney and former State Senator (Whig)
* Henry Wilson, former President of the Massachusetts Senate (Free Soil)

### Campaign

Consistent with their new positions following the constitutional convention, the Whig convention at Fitchburg in September resolved in favor of equal representation, the plurality system, expansion of elective offices, abolition of debtors' prison, elimination of the poll tax, and synchronization of state and national elections. Several Whig candidates even embraced the ten-hour day, the focus of their opposition as recently as 1851.
The Democratic convention, seeking to maintain an edge with social reformers, adopted a platform more aggressively favoring labor rights than any ever taken by the party prior to the American Civil War. It included resolutions denouncing corporations for depressing wages, compelling excessive hours from employees, and blacklisting labor organizers.
The convention scrambled political coalitions in the commonwealth; anti-Coalition, anti-prohibition, national Democrats fielded a separate ticket for the second consecutive year and a number of prominent Free Soilers including Charles Francis Adams Sr., John G. Palfrey, and Samuel Hoar opposed the new constitution. Catholic press also denounced the proposed constitution, which included a measure to block public funds from sectarian schools.
On the eve of the election, U.S. Attorney General Caleb Cushing issued a statement enjoining Democrats from further cooperation with anti-slavery forces or suffer the loss of federal patronage.

### Results

1853 Massachusetts gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Whig | Emory Washburn | 59,224 | 45.94% | 0.99 |
| | Democratic | Henry W. Bishop | 35,086 | 27.22% | 0.78 |
| | Free Soil | Henry Wilson | 29,020 | 22.51% | 4.03 |
| | National Democratic | Bradford L. Wales | 5,477 | 4.25% | 3.99 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 114 | 0.09% | 0.05 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 128,921 | 100.00% | |

## Legislative vote

The Massachusetts House of Representatives certified the popular returns on January 9. Emory Washburn was the first candidate nominated for Governor with 187 votes. On a second ballot, Bradford Wales was nominated with 156 votes. In the Senate, Washburn defeated Wales with 29 out of 30 votes.